WTO

AGRICULTURE
WTO
- AGRICULTURE

A PROJECT COMPILED & SUBMITTED

BY
ANISHA DAMANIA ROLL NO 60
MONICA MALIK ROLL NO 26
SANGEETA NACHANKAR ROLL NO 29
SMITA NAIR ROLL NO 31
SAGAR KARMEKAR ROLL NO 21
VIDYA JOHN ROLL NO 16
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
PROF SUJATA JHAMB

Members (148)
Applied Countries
(28)

WTO Members

WTO-AoA NEGOTIATIONS

CREATING WEALTH FROM

FARM GATE TO FOOD PLATE

GENESIS

WTO Came into existence on 1-1-1995 with the

conclusion of Uruguay Round Multilateral Trade
Negotiations at Marrakesh on 15th April 1994, to :
Provide common institutional framework for
conduct of trade relations among members
Facilitate the implementation, administration and
operation of Multilateral Trade Agreements
Lay down Rules and Procedures Governing
Dispute Settlement
Provide Trade Policy Review Mechanism

Agreement on
Agriculture (AoA)
To establish a fair and market
oriented agricultural trading system
through substantial progressive
reduction in agricultural support
and
protection
resulting
in
correcting
and
preventing
restrictions and distortions in world
agricultural markets

AREAS OF
COMMITMENTS
Domestic Support
Market Access
Export subsidies

Export Subsidies

Cut in value of subsidies

Developed countries - 36 % (1995 - 2000)

Developing countries - 24 % (1995 - 2004)

Cut in subsidized quantities

Developed countries - 21 % (1995 - 2000)
Developing countries - 14 % (1995 - 2004)
(Base Period : (1986 - 1990)

To develop internationally agreed

disciplines to govern export credits,
guarantees or insurance programmes

Domestic Support

In WTO terminology, subsidies in general are identified by

boxes which are given the colours of traffic lights: green
(permitted), Blue (slow down i.e. be reduced),
Amber -( Forbidden)
Green Box - Research,
Extension, PDS, Decoupled
Payments etc;
Blue Box - Production Limiting
Subsidies ;
Amber Box - AMS-subject to
reduction commitments , Viz.
Product specific (MSP)
Non product specific (input
subsidies-fertilizer, Power,
irrigation)

Anomaly in WTO Provision

Developed countries still continue to heavily
subsidize their agriculture.
As per the World Trade Organisation provision
these countries were required to reduce their
subsidy considerably, so that the developing
countries could get a chance to export their
products to these countries.

RESULTS OF THESE ANOMALIES

There were three problems with the AoA
1.

it ignored the realities of global agricultural markets,

2. it reinforced industrial agriculture at the expense of

sustainable agriculture, and
3. It failed to acknowledge the widely differing needs of
countries at different levels of development.

Agricultural Subsidies
Agricultural subsidies have affected developing country farmers both by
denying access to rich markets and allowing farmers from advanced countries
to sell to developing countries at suppressed prices.
This is particularly relevant to India because agricultural products account
for nearly 20% of Indian exports.

Agricultural Support in the US ($US million)

Source: OECD

INDIA SEEKS
Protecting our food and livelihood security by having sufficient
flexibility for domestic policy measures.
Protecting domestic producers from the surge in imports or
significant decline in import prices.
Substantial reduction in export subsidies and domestic support
to agriculture in the developed countries for greater market
access to products of developing countries.
Finally, a more equitable & fair trading framework for
agricultural commodities
MARKET ACCESS ISSUES CAN NOT BE SEEN IN ISOLATION TO
SUBSIDY REGIME

Domestic support
The negotiations on domestic support should include the following
elements:
Substantial reductions in all forms of domestic support should be
undertaken by the developed countries.
Subsidies excluded from the discipline introduced by the AoA, i.e.
those appearing in the Blue Box and the Green Box, need to be
re-assessed, particularly from the point of view of their influence on
production.
The Peace Clause Article 13 (a) and 13 (b) shall not be extended
beyond implementation period.

Export Subsidies
The negotiations on export subsidies should include the following
issues:
Countries using export subsides should phase out this form of
farm support within two years of implementation of the
revised disciplines to be followed by countries in the
agricultural sector.
Export subsidies discipline should include all forms of
spending that enhances the capacities of exporters to
increase trade, e.g. export credit, guarantees and
insurance programmes.
The Peace Clause Article 13 (c) shall not be extended
beyond implementation period.

Present Stage of
Negotiations

The Cancun Ministerial failed to arrive at any

agreement on modality for agriculture.

There was no willingness on part of developed

countries to recognize the genuine concerns of
the developing countries, especially in
agriculture

The US & EU attempted to drive their own

agenda, at the expense of Doha Declaration
The concerns of the developing countries were
expressed by a group viz. G-20 at Cancun.

Why much of the focus must be on

agriculture
Even though it provides less than 4% of global GDP
and 9% of intl merchandise trade
OECD manufacturing tariffs have fallen by 9/10ths
over the past 60 years to <4%, while agricultural
protection has risen, Agric. applied (bound) tariffs
now average nearly 5 (10) times manufactures tariffs
globally
Also, the vast majority of the worlds poor rely on
farming for a living, and may be hurt by agric
protection policies of rich countries

Why focus on agriculture

True, the harm to some DC farmers from
rich-country agricultural protection is reduced via nonreciprocal preference schemes such
as the ACPs Lome Agreement, EBA and
AGOA
But those schemes contravene the core WTO rule of nondiscrimination
In particular, they exclude numerous populous D.Cs (e.g.
Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam)
Hence they may harm more poor farmers (through trade
diversion) than they help.

Disputes in WTO: total 194

As complainant

1)

As defendant

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
USA

EU

Japan

Developing
countries

Which agreements are subject to disputes?

Antal

30

25

20

15

10

0
SPS/TBT

Agriculture

Textiles

TRIMS

TRIPS

GATS

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
Developing countries cannot afford to be silent spectators.
THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MUST COLLECTIVELY
TAKE A STAND ON THE FOLLOWING:"Zero-tolerance" on agricultural subsidies
Restoration of Quantitative Restriction:
Multilateral Agreement Against Hunger:

WHAT WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER IS THE FACT

THAT :
Pre-Independence India suffered repeated famines, drought
and food shortages. But following the Green Revolution in the
60s, yields and food stocks rose manifold. Now, 40 years
later, Indian farmers have realised the follies of their tryst with
intensive agriculture. Despite 70 per cent of the population
being engaged in agriculture and allied activities, declining
food grain production and access to food remain the two
biggest problems confronting the country. Liberalisation has
made things worse: commercial crops are eating into the
fertile land tracts meant for essential food grains.

And ELEVEN years after the World Trade

Organisation came into existence; the anticipated
gains for India from the trade liberalisation process
in agriculture

are practically zero.